< Ezekiel 2 >
1 He said to me, “You human, stand up while I speak to you.”
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak with thee.
2 While he spoke to me, [God’s] Spirit entered me and enabled me to stand up. Then I heard him speak to me.
And the Spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me, and set me upon my feet; and I heard him that spoke unto me.
3 He said, “You human, I will send you to the Israeli people. They are people who have turned away from me and rebelled against me. Their ancestors rebelled against me, and they themselves are still rebelling against me.
And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me unto this very day;
4 The people to whom I will send you are very stubborn [DOU]. But say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you.’
and these children are impudent and hard-hearted: I am sending thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah.
5 [when you tell them my messages], perhaps those rebellious people will heed those messages and perhaps they will not heed them, but they will know [you are] a prophet who has been among them.
And they, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear — for they are a rebellious house — yet shall they know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6 And you human, you must not be afraid of them or afraid of what they say. [Living among them will be like] living in the midst of briers or scorpions, but do not be afraid of them. They are rebellious people [MTY], but do not allow them to cause you to become afraid.
And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, and be not afraid of their words; for briars and thorns are with thee, and thou dwellest among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, and be not dismayed at their faces; for they are a rebellious house.
7 Tell them my message, but do not expect them to pay attention to it, because they [very] rebellious.
And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear; for they are rebellious.
8 But human, you must pay attention to what I say. Do not be rebellious like they are. [Now] open your mouth and eat what I give to you.”
And thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
9 Then, as I watched, I saw his hand that was stretched toward me. In his hand was a scroll.
And I looked, and behold, a hand was put forth toward me; and behold, a roll of a book therein.
10 He unrolled the scroll. On both sides of it were written words that expressed sorrow and mourning and words about trouble/disaster.
And he spread it out before me; and it was written within and without; and there were written in it lamentations, and mourning, and woe.